¡MINE!
by aciretose
Summary: Orig. Char. thrown into LW&W... pretty basic. enjoy.
1. The Letter

-The Letter-  
  
"Audrey! Get out of that tree! You aren't acting like a lady."  
  
Audrey Elizabeth Rockwell looked down through the willow's sweeping branches at her friends Alexandra and Grace, who were having a picnic next to the creek. Her best friend in the whole world was fortunate enough to be able to spend the summer in the pure countryside of England. Her fortune though, seemed to be Audrey's dilemma. Even though she had Alexandra and Grace, it wasn't the same. Because, while the girls and Audrey had known each other since they were five, she couldn't help but think they were growing apart.  
  
Her best friend was spending the whole summer at her parent's friend's house in the country. The way her letters were written though made it seem like the house was a mansion. Audrey could clearly imagine her friend exploring the grounds of a humongous house in the company of her siblings. But all she could do was wait for another letter.  
  
Audrey carefully made her way down through the willow's thick branches, towards her friends were gossiping about who wore what to last night's soirée. The girl rolled her eyes before jumping down right next to Grace making her start.  
  
"Audrey, do try to act like a lady. You would be so admired if you would present yourself in a different manner, you know." Grace stated.  
  
"Well thank you for your opinion, Grace. I am afraid that I must cut our meeting short though, for my brother James is going to further instruct me in my archery lessons, and I'm sure we would end up wrestling if I were late for such an important event." Audrey said, her voice dripping in sarcasm. "And, God knows that I, of all people, could not stand to have mud on my petticoats."  
  
Alexandra sighed and Gracie gazed out at the water pretending she had not heard Audrey's comment. "I suppose we will see you tomorrow Audrey?" Alexandra asked.  
  
"Maybe, I might have to help my father and brothers with our newspaper. We've been getting a lot of business since the bombing started."  
  
"Oh, I wish this war wasn't happening!" Grace complained.  
  
"Gracie, you should know that you couldn't have peace without war." Audrey said as she walked away, hoping for a letter.  
  
*Later at home*  
  
"Henry did I get any mail today?" Audrey asked her older brother.  
  
"Hmmm, well there was that one letter from Lucy, but where did I put it?"  
  
"Henry!! Please! You know I've been waiting all week for that letter. Where is it?"  
  
"Right here." Henry said producing the letter from behind his back. "You better hurry up and read it though, James isn't going to be happy if you are late for another archery lesson, and father won't be pleased if you rip another dress wrestling him about it."  
  
"I know, it would be much easier if I could wear pants, but you know how GrandMary is. She still has the turn of the century sketched in her brain."  
  
"It's just because she worries you aren't becoming a lady with just us men around. Ever since mother died, she's been worried about your upbringing." Henry stated.  
  
"Well, that was three years ago, and I don't mind the way I'm growing up to be. I bet one day women will be worth just as much as any man." Audrey stated matter-of-factly. "Thanks for holding my letter. I'll talk to you later though, archery might wait, but you know James won't."  
  
Audrey put her letter in her dress's front pocket and rolled her bicycle out onto the sidewalk. She had five minutes to reach James in the park, and she was determined not to be late.  
  
As soon as she reached her brother, she jumped off her bike, and pulled it to a halt.  
  
"Here you go Audrey." James said, handing her her arm guard and arrows. After she had her arm guard strapped on and her arrows in their quiver, he brother handed her an un-strung bow so that she could string it up. Audrey had had the most trouble with stringing the bow when she first started. But after hours and hours of practice she could easily bend the larger bow and pop the string in less than three seconds.  
  
After she strung her bow, Audrey pulled an arrow out of her quiver and lined it up perfectly with the target. Pulling back on the supple string, the girl lithely let go to see the arrow soar straight to the bulls- eye of the target. Her expertise of archery had come after two years of working on it. Her mother was a skilled archer, and the year after she passed away, Audrey decided the best way to keep her mother's memory strong was to have a special connection with her. A lot of James and Audrey's skill was inherited though. Now that Audrey had the aim down perfectly, it was time to work on her speed. There was an archery contest every year at the park. James had won the last two years in a row in the bull's eye and speed competition.  
  
Audrey's speed was decent, but she concentrated too much on her speed instead of her target. The arrow sometimes totally missed its mark. James had told her to keep her eye on one point, no matter where her hands were going, kind of like not letting the left hand know what the right hand is doing.  
  
After working on it for an hour, Audrey was able to hit the target on the majority of her snaps; she even hit the bull's eye three times. After her successful practice, she sat under a laurel tree and took the folded letter out of her pocket. Unfolding the paper and smoothing out the creases, Audrey read:  
  
-June 1943-  
  
Dear Audrey,  
  
I am downtrodden. Here at Professor Kirk's house, the rooms and yards seem to go on forever. Yesterday, while it was raining, we decided to play hide and seek. I found a room that had nothing in it, but a wardrobe, so I hid in there. Audrey, it had the most wonderful fur coats, sleek and soft fur. I decided to hide behind them, so it would be harder for Su to find me, but when I tried to find the back, all I could feel was evergreen branches covered in snow. Imagine that! Snow in the summer! I walked in until I reached an old-fashioned lamppost, and a little man with a goat's lower half (these creatures are called fauns. his name is Mr. Tumnus.) greeted me as I helped him retrieve his parcels that he had dropped in surprise when he saw me. Mr. Tumnus invited me back to his cozy little home in the woods. When we got there, he fed me delicious food and told the funniest stories; he could even beat your brother Samuel at making up humorous stories.  
  
Eventually though, I told Mr. Tumnus that I had to leave, for I had been gone for hours and surely the others were worrying about me. He began to cry! Apparently there is a witch in this second world who makes it winter all of the time, but no Christmas! The horrible woman declared that if any Sons of Adam or Daughters of Eve came to Narnia, they must be turned over to her or the person who hid them would suffer a severe consequence. Mr. Tumnus told me that he was going to turn me over to the witch, but he couldn't. Oh, the poor faun, he begged my forgiveness and sent me back to the lamppost so I could get home. When I got to the lamppost, I hurried back through the woods and through the wardrobe. I burst out of the wardrobe to find that I hadn't been gone for five seconds in our world.  
  
The worst thing is that I told Peter, Susan, and Edmund about it, but they wouldn't believe me. And now Edmund won't stop teasing me about it, saying I'm trying to get attention! Audrey, you must believe me. You've never had a reason to doubt me, and I've never deliberately lied about anything.  
  
So, if you want to, the dear Professor said you could come to the country house! Please do come stay a week, we could explore and everything. I'm tired of just having Edmund around, and need someone to keep me company. I miss you very much.  
  
Love from,  
  
Lucy  
  
P.s.- If you may come, send a telegram.  
  
Audrey reread the letter not able to believe what her friend had written. She couldn't help but doubt what Lucy had written, but as the letter said, she had no reason to doubt her. Lucy never told stories to deceive people. She also could not help wanting to hit Edmund. because, even Audrey could remember the days before he turned bad. He had no right to make fun of Lucy.  
  
Nevertheless, Audrey wanted to go to the countryside. She'd just have to do some major convincing to GrandMary. 


	2. Persuade Away

-Persuade Away-  
  
After she took a short walk through the park, Audrey found her older brother Samuel waiting for her outside of the park gates. She somehow had an amazingly close relationship with all three of her older brothers. She didn't have any sisters, and she wasn't into the dolls and playing house, but she wasn't actually a tomboy. She knew how to sew and cook, and she was practically the lady of the house, but only when GrandMary didn't come over for her long visits.  
  
Her three older brothers took care of her all of the time. She was only 12 years old, and the only girl they had in their lives. James was 16, Henry was 15, and Samuel was 14. Their father, Benjamin, was the editor of a newspaper that he had started the year he met their mother Rachel. It mainly had war news, but Samuel drew a comic strip for each issue, and a frumpy middle-aged woman named Julia Stover wrote short articles on what was going on in the movie world. Audrey and her brothers often helped out in the print shop because they knew their father secretly sent hundreds of copies to Germany and other oppressed countries so they would know the true outside news, not just what Hitler told them.  
  
Her grandmother, her mother's mother, was all up for going to the Americas when news of the war became evident almost four years ago. She wanted to take Audrey with her but Ben Rockwell flat out refused. Ever since Julia had died, he had tried his hardest to keep the family together and running as it always did. So GrandMary had stayed in her humongous country house in the suburbs of London, England.  
  
GrandMary visited the family every month for one week. And although James, Henry, Sam, and Audrey loved their grandmother, she was very overbearing and made all of the decisions when she was at the house. Audrey anticipated her next visit on the following Sunday, because even if her father agreed to let her go to the Professor's house, GrandMary would put in the final say. Father said that she just misses mother and wished she were around, but since she isn't, GrandMary believed she must fill his wife's shoes in raising the children.  
  
Since Audrey still had two days to wait for her, she decided to start packing in the unlikely event her grandmother said yes to her. She packed the pairs of overalls that had been passed down from Samuel (that GrandMary had no clue about, of course), three of her nice dresses, five "knock- around" dresses as her mum used to call the ones she used to play in, three button ups, and one sweater. She didn't pack her ballet shoes because she had dance rehearsal that afternoon, but she would pack those and her leotard later tonight. That was another problem about Lucy's absence: she'd have to deal with Alexandra and Gracie's gossip during practice without Lucy to turn to.  
  
After clasping her suitcase, Audrey went down to the kitchen to prepare lunch for her family. Each of her brothers liked different things to eat, and Audrey didn't mind doing it for them. She made four sandwiches, roast beef, chicken, turkey, and ham, each with cheese, lettuce, pickles, and tomatoes. Then she put in fruit: an apple for James, a pear for Henry, an orange for Sam, and two bananas for her father. After that, she packed cookies. That was her specialty. She could bake any type of cookies from scratch. Her mother had taught her to stir batter when she was three years old, and she hadn't stopped since. Her cookies where the only things her brothers liked to be surprised with in their lunch bag.  
  
Putting the final sandwich in the picnic basket, Audrey went up to her room and got her ballet practice leotard and put it on so she wouldn't be late to practice. Once she was dressed and had her slippers, she grabbed the basket and carried it out to her bike, and proceeded to the print shop.  
  
Once she got there she saw her three brothers waiting for lunch. When she pulled her bike to a stop, all three of them came over, hugged her, and dug into the basket like they were starved dogs.  
  
Audrey made her way into her father's office, and brought up the subject of her visiting Lucy in the country.  
  
"Audrey, I'm not sure if you should go to visit the Pevensies."  
  
"Why not Dad?" Audrey asked, handing her father his lunch.  
  
"Your GrandMary for one. And what about your brothers and me? We need a woman around the house. You also have ballet and archery lessons."  
  
"Da-ad! I'll only be gone for two weeks! Please, please, please, please?!?"  
  
"You still haven't explained ballet and archery lessons."  
  
"James and I both need a break from archery. And Lucy is in my ballet class. We can practice together. Please, it all works out!"  
  
Audrey's father gave an exasperated sigh. "Fine. I will let you go, but only if you can convince your Grandmother. I will not help you on that."  
  
"Thank you daddy!" The 12-year-old girl said, hugging her father around the waist before racing out the door for her bike so she wouldn't be late for ballet practice.  
  
*****  
  
Audrey waited nervously outside the parlor of her home. She smoothed her dress for the thousandth time. It was her GrandMary's favourite dress of hers. It was a soft pink and stopped right at her knees, with little white flowers on the neckline and on her sleeves. Audrey absolutely despised it, but she knew if she were to convince her grandmother, she'd have to be remarkably lady-like.  
  
"You may come in Audrey, dear." GrandMary's voice, stern and a bit warm wafted through the closed doors. She entered slowly and daintily. "Your needlepoint is at your chair. I expect you to get at least 'the heart' finished this time. No dawdling young lady."  
  
"Yes, GrandMary." Audrey replied, picking up her needlework. She began to put tiny stitches in her work, and was halfway through the 'H' in heart when her grandmother spoke again.  
  
"So, Audrey. is there something you'd like to ask me?"  
  
"Excuse me, GrandMary?"  
  
"That dress. You only wear it when you want to request something your father puts on my shoulders. What is it?"  
  
"Well. I received a post from Lucy three days ago."  
  
"Lucy Pevensie? Nice young lady. Go on."  
  
"Yes m'am. Lucy requested that I come visit her at the country house she is staying in. The owner of the house Professor Kirk, has already given her permission, and I'd only be staying for two weeks."  
  
"A professor?"  
  
"Yes m'am."  
  
"For two weeks?"  
  
"Yes m'am."  
  
"Well. I don't see why not. Of course you may go."  
  
"Really? I can?"  
  
"You may, Audrey. You need time with other young girls and you could take a break from the roughness of your older brothers. I think the company of a refined professor in a country mansion would be simply delightful."  
  
Audrey didn't even risk contradicting her grandmother on the point made about her brothers. She was going to visit her best friend in the whole world! She would have to tell her father and brothers. And she reluctantly decided to tell Alexandra and Grace. There was so much to be done! She had to finish packing, bake several cookies, tidy up her room, and so much more. She would of course be taking her bow and arrow and-- a last minute reminder by her Grandmother interrupted Audrey's thoughts.  
  
"You must finish that needlepoint though over your holiday. If you come back and it's not done, I will not be so willing to let you go next time."  
  
"Yes m'am. Thank you GrandMary." 


	3. Transported

MUCH THANKS Xiao and Lady Culelen for inspiring me to actually finish this chapter to put it up!  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
-Transported-  
  
The train pulled up to the station. Audrey sat up in her seat and put her needlework and book in her little carry-on bag. She really had tried on the needlepoint, but halfway through the 'i' in 'is' she had already poked herself three times. The work was incredibly boring anyways.  
  
Right now she was reading ROMEO + JULIET by William Shakespeare. Her father had gotten her a whole collection of his works for the previous Christmas, but she had just now started reading it. By the time the train ride was over she had gotten to the part where Romeo kills Tybalt. It was a little bit depressing because Mercutio was her favourite character, and he had to die.  
  
"Hello. You must be Audrey Rockwell. My name is Mrs. Macready. I am the housekeeper of Professor Kirk's estate. If you will please come with me, the car awaits us."  
  
"Thank you. Will the trip be a long one?"  
  
"Not too long, dear. Come along now. Hurry up."  
  
The car ride to the professor's house was very dull and quiet. It was raining, so everything had that damp worn out look to it. Audrey gazed out the dripping window. She now was faced with a little problem. What was Lucy's story? She didn't want to doubt her best friend, but her story was a little questionable. A faun? Why would Lucy make up a story like that? Wait. Lucy wouldn't make up a story like that. Oh, why now? As if it weren't enough with the war going on.  
  
Lucy was a very earnest person just like Audrey. They seemed to have a secret knowledge and trust about little things that other people would over look. They were both sincere and serious at times, but had marvelous senses of humour as long as it was played in the right way. They didn't enjoy practical jokes and mean people using others as the butt of a joke. That was just wrong.  
  
The girls also looked similar to each other. Not too much so that you would think they were sisters, as people knew with Lucy and Susan, but just enough to think they had some type of relation. They both had curly hair, Lucy's was a strawberry blonde, and Audrey's was dark brunette. They had fair skin, almost porcelain-like, but a shade darker, and petite noses. They were also both on the short side of the bargain being only in the 150 cm range (Lucy was a small bit taller). That's about where the similarities stopped. Their personalities were alike, but they were independent enough to have discussions on different views.  
  
For instance, they both believed that war was necessary to have peace, but where as Lucy would wait out and try to negotiate first, Audrey would dive into the problem, wanting to get it fixed as quick as possible, by any means. There were many differences between the two friends like that. It was one of those, Lucy prefers spring, and Audrey favours autumn, Lucy liked Chinese, Audrey liked Italian, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. They were like any other pair of best friends.  
  
The black car pulled up to the professor's country house. It was enormous. The strong brick foundation had ivy creeping up one side and plants all around. Audrey could clearly see that the estate was vast and there was a small wood on the property and topiaries in the backyard. She and Lucy would have to explore that when the rain wasn't so diligent. She obtained all of her baggage, which was just a medium sized suitcase and her carry-on, and headed into the house under the black umbrella held over her head by the prim Mrs. Macready.  
  
"Hello Ms. Rockwell! Welcome to my humble estate!"  
  
"Hullo! You must be Professor Kirk." Audrey acknowledged, catching excitement from the professor's enthusiastic voice. She set down her suitcase and shook hands vigorously with the old man. She was frightened and ecstatic at the same time. The gentleman gave off a vibe of extreme animation, what with his unruly white hair and broad smile.  
  
"The other children are upstairs. Mrs. Macready, would you please lead the young lady up to them?"  
  
"Yes sir." The prudish housekeeper complied. She then led Audrey up a maze of staircases until they heard a noise in one of the next rooms. They stopped in the room before and Mrs. Macready turned to Audrey. "Would you like for me to take your baggage to your room, young miss?"  
  
"No, thank you. I will deposit it there myself later."  
  
"Then they are through those doors. There are a few rules I expect you to follow while you stay here. The young ladies Susan and Lucy will inform you, I'm sure. Have a nice stay." She said, walking away.  
  
"What an old prune." Audrey thought to herself as she walked through the door, and into the next room. She immediately noticed something peculiar about the room she was now in. It was unoccupied except for a dead-blue bottle on the windowsill and a large wardrobe. "Oh no. Why would they be in there?" She thought. She walked over to the wardrobe and opened it to see her reflection in the looking glass connected to its door. The contents of the wardrobe were fur coats of all sizes, just as Lucy had described it. Audrey, still grasping her bags and bow, pushed the coats aside and stepped into the wardrobe, careful not to close the door behind her (because she knew, of course, that it was very foolish to shut oneself in a wardrobe), and called out.  
  
"Lu? Lucy, are you in here?"  
  
She walked farther into the back of the wardrobe. "Strange," she thought, how big is this closet?" As she went on, she felt the fur coats around her transform into evergreen trees. "Hello?!" She called out worried. She realized that her friend hadn't been lying to her, and she felt horrible for doubting her.  
  
There was something wrong with the scene though. Where was the snow? Lucy had described an everlasting winter in her letter, so what was this?  
  
As she walked further into the wardrobe/forest, she noticed a rabbit scamper across the path in front of her. As she stepped closer, it stopped suddenly, perked its ears out, and looked intently at her. She couldn't help but note that the rabbit in front of her was bigger than any she had ever seen in London and its brown fur was the sleekest and shiniest of any animal she had ever seen in her whole life.  
  
"Well, who are you?"  
  
Audrey looked around, bewildered.  
  
"Down here, if you please."  
  
"Excuse me Mr. Rabbit. are you speaking to me?" The girl said, utterly confused and perplexed at this new puzzle in front of her.  
  
"You are clearly not of the Narnian race, my dear. You must be lost. that's it! You're lost. You must be from Archenland."  
  
"Excuse me, sir. I don't know what you are talking about. I'm not from Archenland! I am from London! Please."  
  
"Dear child. Are you ill? There is no such place as this London you speak of. You must have the memory disease. We will get you back to your home country soon enough, don't worry." The rabbit consoled her going on and on about how unfortunate it was that she had to be put in such a predicament. Then he caught his breath, and seemed to realize something.  
  
"My goodness! How rude can I be? I haven't yet introduced myself! My name is Mr. Lapin. Good day! And what is your name? How rude indeed! You probably don't even remember your name. Please forgive me. My breakfast quite small this morning, my energy must be dwindling."  
  
"I do too know my name! It's Audrey Elizabeth Rockwell! And I do not have this disease you speak of!" The young girl exclaimed indignantly before realizing that she was arguing with a rabbit of all things. "I'm sorry for losing my temper, but I'm lost and incredibly baffled at my situation right now."  
  
"Quite all right. I will lead you to Archenland, and you can figure out all of your circumstances there."  
  
Audrey looked around hopelessly, before deciding just to give in to Mr. Lapin. What was the point anyways? She was in a totally different country. Maybe these Archenlanders would help her out. At least she hoped they would. 


End file.
